New 3-party center-left government in Estonia

TALLINN, Estonia — Estonia's second-largest political group, the Center Party, and two others have agreed to form a center-left coalition after the previous government collapsed following months of internal squabbling, chiefly over the Baltic country's economy.

The three parties' leaderships agreed Saturday to form a coalition of the Center Party, the left-leaning Social Democrats and the conservative IRL.

Center Party leader Juri Ratas is expected to become prime minister. However, he needs to be formally appointed by President Kersti Kaljulaid, which is expected next week. The 101-seat Parliament will later this month approve the government, which controls a comfortable majority of 56 seats.

On Nov. 9, Taavi Roivas, the Reform Party prime minister, was forced to resign after months of disputes with coalition partners — the Social Democrats and the IRL Party.